14. GAME

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

14. Game

 

     IT’S ALREADY SEVEN PM. WE DECIDED TO HEAD TO Boulevard, where Stephanie said she wants to meet us. We went inside and I can see that Stephanie already saw us.

     “Adam, it’s so nice to see you!” she said standing up.

     “What do you want?” Adam asked.

     “Let’s a have a seat first…”

     I sit back the same time Adam did. Stephanie is still smiling with her eyes like an innocent girl who doesn’t have any clue on what happened yesterday.

     “Alyson, I’m sincerely sorry on what I had said to you yesterday. I’ve just over reacted. It’s been so long since I wish this day to happen, the day that I’ll be free again and I don’t need to pretend to be someone I’m not, to pretend to be deeply in love to someone you don’t even like. But it’s still not complete since Adam is now in love with you. But now, I understand that what I did yesterday was wrong and that he really loves you now and I’m just a part of his past, of his childhood,” she took a pause now holding the front of my hand.

     “Sure… besides, who doesn’t like to be with Adam, right? And I think I’ll do the same too if I’m on your position…” I smiled

 

 

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convincingly as possible.

     “Thanks Alyson, you’re such an angel!”

     “Well, at least now you two are okay,” Adam said.

     “I’ll just give you a tip Alyson, Adam is really a big flirt, so you better lock him or he’ll be going out with other girls without you knowing…”

     “Yah right… don’t listen to her, did you know she’s a playgirl?”

     “Really…” I said.

     “That’s not true!”

     “Oh yah? Who had four boyfriends in a month?”

     “That’s just one time…” she chuckled. “Hey, what do you want to eat? My treat,”

     “I’m having what Adam’s having…” I said.

     We settled for a mediocre Chiroubles. Our food was excellent. Bread was pretty good sourdough. We had baby calamari stuffed with Dungeness crab. The calamari was cooked properly and was served in a rich butter sauce. An order of fried Maryland soft-shell crabs was pretty good, but the crabs had shells that had somewhat hardened and the deep fried preparation wasn't particularly sophisticated. I had a juicy pork chop but wasn't particularly impressed by the presentation on a bed of mashed potatoes and chard.

     “Maybe I’ll go to the restroom first,” Stephanie said after the waiter left.

     “Ah, me too…” I said as I follow her.

     “So, I just like to clear something up,” she muttered as she washes her hands, her mean, nasty tone is back. “I didn’t mean anything I said back there,”

     “I know you’re such a terrible actress, I think only Adam believed you… if he did…” I raised one eyebrow and smiled crookedly.

     “Whatever… just remember one thing… I never lose… what Stephanie wants, Stephanie gets…”

 

 

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     “Then don’t forget, what Alyson has, Alyson keeps…” I said as I wash my hands. “Oh yah… and if that statement what Stephanie wants, Stephanie gets, then how come you lose him so easily? Why didn’t you fight for him before?”

     “You never knew what I had to experience before I come to this… and you know what they say, a great relationship comes from the great friendship…”

     “And you know what they say, the past is the past…”

     “Good you know… ‘cause after summer, you’ll be his past…”

     “Ooh, I love this game…”

     “Me too, ‘cause I always wins…”

     “Really? Who said? Maybe it’s the other way around…” I sprinkled water on her.

     “How dare you sprinkle water on me!”

     “Whatever… I need to go back now…”

     As I went back to Adam, she suddenly went beside me and put her arm around mine.

     “Hey, what took you two so long? I’m getting bored here…” Adam muttered.

     “We just talk about some girl stuff and we got carried away that we forgot you’re with us…” Stephanie answered.

     “Yah… we didn’t notice the time running quickly.”

     “You two look friends now… that’s great news…”

     “Yah, you don’t know how close…” she added.

     “Yah… sure…” I said.

     “Well sit down now… I’m starving…”

     “Okay...” I sat down beside Adam. I smiled at Stephanie with its meaning. She smiled back and then to Adam with her friendly looks. But I have to admit, she’s not such a terrible actress, she has some skills. Guess its years of practice on her late husband and family-in-law.

     “You know, we should do this a lot…” she said after taking another bite.

 

 

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     “Yah… that sounds fun…” I said taking a bite.

     The evening ended as Adam offered to drive Stephanie home since she doesn’t had a car. Well, at least I’m still the last to be drive home and she sat behind.

     “Thanks for being friends with Stef…” Adam said.

     “Of course… she’s not that hard to get along with…” I lied. “Besides, she had been, or always will be your best friend… so I need to know her too…”

     “She’s not much of a best friend to me any more… maybe a childhood friend, yes, but best, I don’t think so,”

     “Is the Stephanie we saw back there is the Stephanie you saw way back before she was married?”

     “Kinda… except for the hair…”

     “Really…”

     “Yah… well, I guess your dad is waiting, I can see his shadow…”

     “Okay, bye, love you…” I got off his car and waved goodbye as I watch his Mercedes disappear in a flash.

     I turned around and my dad’s shadow was gone. I went inside and headed to my room before my dad could ask any questions about my evening. I put all the shopping bags at the bedside. I hope Stephanie can get over him already.

 

     I woke up a little late, it’s already eleven. I look at the table beside my bed and there’s a teddy bear holding five roses, which has a note attached to it saying:

     Meet me later at the Menlo Park at six… have a nice day, love you…

 

     I know this is the handwriting of Adam, I’m pretty sure of it, though I still examined it. It took me a minute to be a hundred percent sure that it is his.

     I took a bath and brush my teeth then went down holding

 

 

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the teddy bear.

     “Um, who send this?” I asked, though obviously, I already knew.

     “I don’t know… didn’t you read the card? The delivery guy didn’t say anything… but I guess it’s from Adam, don’t you think?” my dad said.

     “Well, the handwriting looks alike from Adam’s…”

     “Then it is from him…”

     “What’s for breakfast? Or maybe I should say, what’s for lunch…”

     “Grilled chicken and mashed potato…”

     “Okay…” I headed to the dining room where mom is already preparing.

     “Good morning sleepyhead…”

     “Good morning…”

     “Sit down now…”

     “So, have Ashley taught you some new recipes?”

     “Yah… but we haven’t bought the ingredients yet…”

     “Ah… so are you going out later?”

     “No, maybe tomorrow… here…” she gave me a plate of grilled chicken and mashed potato.

 

     I tried to waste my time by watching TV, feeding and playing with Phoenix— my Shih Tzu, that is given to me by Adam, as a gift on my last birthday, which helped my dad lose his allergy on the furs— well, at least I’m not that bored. I talk to mom and dad with some stuff, though none of those are in my interest. It’s finally five forty-five pm so I decided to head to Menlo Park. I decided to bring the teddy bear with the roses so I put it in my bag.

     I took the bus to get to the park and it’s really beautiful there. In the center, there’s a round table with two chairs. There’s a candle in the middle, and there’s a pile of rose petals in shape of a heart around. I sat patiently as I wait for him.

 

 

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    It’s already seven forty-five but Adam still didn’t come. I tried to call him twice but he doesn’t answer his phone. I text him five times but I didn’t receive single reply. I decided to call Shane.

     “Hey Shane… you free tonight?” I asked.

     “Yah… why? Where are you tonight?”

     “At Menlo Park…”

     “Okay, I’ll go there now…”

     “Thanks…”

     “Bye…”

     “Bye,” I shut my phone.

     It didn’t take an hour before Shane reached me.

     “Hey, so why are you here? Alone…”

     “Well, Adam sent me this…” I showed him the bear with five roses. “And I’ve been waiting here for more than two hours…”

     “Ah… did you try calling him?”

     “Yes… twice…”

     “Can I see the note?”

     “Sure… here…” I gave him the note.

     “You sure Adam sent this?” he examined the note carefully.

     “I think so… it looks the same with the note he sent before, last Valentine’s Day…”

     “Well, his handwriting is quite hard to imitate,”

     “I know… I tried it twice…”

     “Yah… I tried it too… a lot, I can’t count… even Nate can’t…”

     “Really…”

     “Well, I guess Adam just really forgot…”

     “Yah… um, could you do a favor for me?”

     “Sure…”

     “Could you not tell him about this? I want him to remember this on his own…”

     “Sure… so where do you want to go now?”

     “Anywhere…”

 

 

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     “Hey, want some ice cream?”

     “Ice cream sold at night?”

     “Yah… there…”

     “Okay…” I left the bear on the table.

     “C’mon…” he took my hand and dragged me to the ice cream stand. “What flavor do you want?”

     “Um, chocolate and strawberry…”

     “Okay…” then he faced the ice cream man. “Two chocolate and strawberry, please…”

     “Here you go…” he said handing it to him.

     “Here, keep the change,” he smiled his angelic smile.

     “Thank you very much!”

     “So where are we going?” I asked.

     “Um, want to go to the mall, or just stay here at the park?”

     “Um, I’d like to visit a place that I’d never been for a long time,”

     “Sure… where is it?”

     “I’ll drive…”

     “Okay…”

 

     We reached the cliff— where the last time I visited this was before I go to my fourth year high school.

     “If I’m not corrected, this is the place you told me about where you always fall asleep?”

     “Yes… I told you that?”

     “Yah… I’m just a very good listener,”

     “Really… but I think I won’t fall asleep now, since I really overslept…”

     “Ah… well, I’ll just lie down…”

     “My lap is free… just in case, so that you won’t fall asleep,” I sat down at the grass. “You know, the first time I brought Adam here, he kinda fell asleep too…”

     “So, did you miss this place?” he put his head to my lap.

     “Kinda… so how about you, Where’s your favorite place?”

 

 

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     “My bedroom,”

     “Ah…” I said playing with his curls. “Have you tried straight hair?”

     “Nope… you?”

     “Yah… before I really want a straight hair, I spend two hours in the morning just to straight my hair, I even did it just to impress a guy… but I learned that I don’t really need to do that… I love my hair on just how it is now…”

     “Of course you should… you have lovely curls… did you know many girls want to have the same hair as yours?”

     “How did you know about that?”

     “Remember? You sung with us on tours… and now you’re already one of us, the unknown… and we received a lot of fan mails about you… and many of those said that they love your curls…”

     “Really…”

     “Yes…”

     “Um, have you tried fluffy curls?”

     “Yah… can you imagine me on it?”

     “A little… I’m just going to put Nate’s hair to you… I think you would look hotter…”

     “Why? What do I look like now?”

     “Gorgeous…”

     “Okay, that’s an appropriate answer…”

     “Of course…”

     “You’re just saying that because I’m your best friend…”

     “I’m honest… do you think your fans only like you because of your pretty face?”

     “Maybe… wait, I have a voice and personality too you know…”

     “True… but your hair has its moves…”

     “Really? How can it move? I’m not medusa you know… I’m just Shane Cyrus…”

     “I’m not sure… you know, I’m lucky enough to touch and

 

 

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play with your curls, you know the ones with the 3D glasses and 3D pictures and movies? Most girls try that just to be close to your curls…”

     “You know, you have a weird imagination on that theory…”

     “You don’t believe me? Want to do a survey? We can ask teenagers on what they like most about you… but we’ll wear a disguise tomorrow so they wouldn’t know…”

     “Well then, tomorrow we’ll have a survey… what will happen if you’re right? That majority likes my curls… and what will happen if I’m right? That they like other things about me…”

     “The loser will follow what the winner wants for a month…”

     “Game…”

     “Okay…” I put my hand in front of him for our secret handshake— that we invented last Christmas.

     “So what time are we going tomorrow?”

     “Three pm will be good…”

     “Okay, I’ll just drive by…”

     “Sure… just don’t forget my wig and your disguise…”

     “What do you want to use the brunette or the black?”

     “Brunette…”

     “With the bangs?”

     “Yah… to hide my true identity…”

     “Do I need to wear a moustache?”

     “It’s up to you…”

     “Is it appropriate?”

     “Maybe…” I smiled crookedly.

     “I’ll think about it… I look ugly with a moustache…”

     “Well, okay…”

     “Can’t wait for tomorrow…”

     “Are we going house to house or just ask anybody there?”

     “Um, just ask anybody there, I guess…”

     “Okay…”

     “It’s too bad we missed the sunset…”

     “Yah… it’s been a long time since I watched a sunset…”

 

 

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     “Did you know that whenever I fall asleep, I dreamt about watching the sunset?”

     “Really… well, at least you didn’t fell asleep…”

     “Of course… how can I fall asleep if Mr. Shane Cyrus is lying at my lap?”

     “Well, at least you have one reason…”

     “Hey, where do you want to eat dinner?”

     “I don’t know… you?”

     “Um, want to eat at our house?”

     “C’mon, I’m pretty sure my dad would be glad to have you around…”

     “Yah, I guess so…”

     “C’mon…” I let him stand up first then he helped me to follow.

 

     We reached my house by nine. I’m pretty sure my mom is already finished cooking dinner, though they’re not eating yet. We went inside where my mom and dad are watching TV.

     “Good evening…” Shane greeted politely, as if it’s his first time to visit here at my house and never met my parents before.

     “You’re just in time for dinner,” my mom said.

     “Sure, what’s for dinner?”

     “Roasted shrimp and salad niçoise”

     “Okay…” I said as we head to the dining room.

     “Hey, I thought you’re gonna meet Adam today?” my dad asked. Great, this is the question I’m trying to avoid.

     “Um, he didn’t show up…” I said honestly.

     “Why?”

     “I don’t know… c’mon, lets eat now… I’m starving…” I said as I take a plate full of shrimp and salad.

     “I told you about that making a great decision a year ago…” he flickered to Shane then back to me.

     “What… we didn’t break up…”

 

 

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     “Yet…”

     “Dad! I bet he has an appropriate reason why he didn’t show up…” I gave Shane a plate.

     “Shane, do you have a girlfriend now?” he asked; though we both know what Shane’s answer is.

     “No sir…”

     “Hmm…” he looked at me.

     “Dad!” I took a huge bite.

     “Are you courting anybody now?” he asked Shane again.

     “Nope…” Shane answered quickly, and then took a bite.

     “How’s my cooking?” my mom asked changing the topic.

     “Great…”

     “Yah…” I agreed.

     “You know Alyson, your mom is my best friend until now…” my dad added.

     “Whatever dad…” I took another huge bite. “Don’t listen to him, okay?” I looked at Shane.

     “Of course… like I said, I want you to be my best friend so that I won’t fall in love with you, since you’re with my brother. And we never ever had a little brotherly competition…” he whispered.

     “Thanks…” I murmured.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Reviews

[Victoria Scott]

Dude this makes me want a guy best friend so bad! I love their adorable relationship :D

[elyza0926]

shane is really a great best friend.. i wish i can have my best friend back... (he's a guy too..) :(